


Young At Heart

by leiascully



Series: The FBI's Most Unwanted [18]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Covert Operation, Episode Related, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Gen, Partnership
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-04
Updated: 2015-07-04
Packaged: 2018-04-07 14:19:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4266444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leiascully/pseuds/leiascully
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their pasts were catching up to them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Young At Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline: 1.15 "Young At Heart"  
> Disclaimer: _The X-Files_ and all related characters are the property of Chris Carter, 1013 Productions, and Fox Studios. No profit is made from this work and no infringement is intended.

Their pasts were catching up to them. First, Scully's former boyfriend, trying to make his name on the case that killed, and now John Barnett, the case on which Mulder had cut his teeth. In a way it made sense. Mulder had lived most of his life looking over his shoulder for his sister. He had never given thought to his future. It was always the past that had haunted him, but now the ghosts were visible.

Barnett had so quickly identified Scully as his Achilles heel. He must be as transparent as glass. Had he stood too close to her? They conferred in whispers, sheltering their conversations from the rest of the world. He held an umbrella and let the rain turn them into a universe of two. He gathered her into a situation with a touch on her shoulder. He could see it so clearly in Barnett's photos. Touch Scully and he would snap.

He couldn't put her in danger. It would have been different with Diana. Diana had chosen the work. Scully had been assigned to him. Surely she had had the opportunity to request reassignment if she'd wanted it. Colton would have pulled the strings for her, if she'd played along. But Scully was stubborn, he knew that. Choosing to stay wasn't the same thing as choosing the work. She stuck around because they'd tried to dissuade her, because she believed that, whatever drove him to it, he brought some sort of justice into the world, and that was a goal she could share. He imagined from time to time that she'd found something of worth in him as well, but that was an insight he couldn't support with the kind of evidence he needed. For once, he'd found something he couldn't take on faith.

Scully, meanwhile, wouldn't let him protect her. He should have known better. He couldn't let her endanger herself and he couldn't keep her away. Skinner had requisitioned a few other agents and a conference room; Barnett was a threat the Bureau had started taking seriously, or maybe there were darker factors at work, but everyone in the room had listened to the briefing and asked intelligent questions about the planned operation. When they'd left, talking quietly and seriously among themselves, Mulder had turned to Scully.

"You don't have to do this," he said.

"I want to do it, Mulder," she insisted. "We've exhausted all the other possibilities. This is the right choice. Barnett thinks he has me where he wants me. Our best chance is letting him believe that's still true."

"It's too dangerous, Scully," he said. 

She put her hand on his arm. "I appreciate that you're worried, but this is part of the job. Part of my job. I understand the risks."

"It should be me he's after," he muttered. "It's me he wants. I'm sorry that you got pulled into this."

"Of course I'm part of this," she said, squeezing his arm gently. "I'm your partner."

"Death for Fox's friends," he quoted. "That can't be you, Scully."

She pursed her lips. "I know you've just lost Reggie, and I'm sorry, Mulder, but you're not going to lose me."

 _I couldn't live with myself if I did_ , he thought, but only nodded. "As long as you're certain."

"It's my choice," she said. "I've put my friend into danger through my involvement in this case. You and I together can make this right. Barnett may think he's exploiting our weaknesses by targeting me, but our connection is a strength. You don't have to do this alone."

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be debunking my work, not doing it with me?" he asked, to stop the warm flood of his gratitude from escaping instead.

She smiled, her chin lifting. "I'll be sure to get back to invalidating everything you do after we catch Barnett. All right?"

"Just make sure they give you the right size vest," he said, opening the door to the conference room. "You know what, I think I'll come down there with you. Might as well make being a pain in the ass work for me."

"That does sound like a refreshing change," she teased, and ducked out under his arm.


End file.
